Film & Discussion: The Art of the Steal

When & Where

Humanist Hall

390 27th Street [between Telegarph & Broadway]

Oakland, CA 94612

August 20, 2014 - 7:30pm

Contact

Humanist Hall

Florence

HumanistHall@gmail.com

510 681 8699

By Don Argott

An un-missable look at one of the art world’s most fascinating controversies and a celebrated selection of the Toronto, New York and AFI Film Festivals, Don Argott’s gripping documentary THE ART OF THE STEAL chronicles the long and dramatic struggle for control of the Barnes Foundation, a private collection of art valued at more than $25 billion.

In 1922, Dr. Albert C. Barnes formed a remarkable educational institution around his priceless collection of art, located just five miles outside of Philadelphia. Now, more than 50 years after Barnes’ death, a powerful group of moneyed interests have gone to court for control of the art, and intend to bring it to a new museum in Philadelphia. Standing in their way is a group of Barnes’ former students and his will, which contains strict instructions stating the Foundation should always be an educational institution, and that the paintings may never be removed. Will they succeed, or will a man’s will be broken and one of America’s greatest cultural monuments be destroyed?

Humanist Hall is wheelchair accessible around the corner at 411 28th Street